Earlier this week, I received an email from Tarte Cosmetics, one of my favorite makeup brands, announcing that they were releasing a new foundation based on their popular concealer, Shape Tape. I immediately went to the website to check out the foundation and was excited to find out that there are two types of the foundation, one for oily skin and one for dry skin. I left the website after a little bit and didn’t think much of it until I went on YouTube later that night, where I saw a video from one of my favorite beauty vloggers talking about how poor the shade selection is for their new foundation. I searched for the shades online to see swatches of them, and sure enough, there were only two to three shades meant for darker skin tones. The picture of the swatches makes it blatantly obvious that these shades are not inclusive, and I was very upset at Tarte, a makeup brand that I have loved for years.

Later, Tarte released a statement saying that they did not mean to hurt anyone’s feelings and that they were not done releasing all of the shades: “We want to let you know we hear you… You all know by now that we revealed our much anticipated shape tape foundation & the final shade range that we launched was definitely not representation of all of you.” They also disabled comments on their Instagram post announcing the release of the foundation, but some people commented their dissatisfaction with the shade selection on other recent posts. Although Tarte apologized, people have a right to be upset about their release. Shape Tape is one of their most successful products, so they should have known that this foundation would be successful and need a full shade range.

In recent years, the beauty community has worked to be more inclusive in terms of different shade selections, products for various skin types, and more diverse advertising. When people think of inclusive beauty brands, usually the first one that comes to mind is Fenty Beauty, Rihanna’s makeup brand. Fenty Beauty revolutionized the makeup community by releasing quality shades that suited most, if not all, skin tones. The dark shades sold out, demonstrating the popularity of the wide range of deeper shades. According to Elle, other brands have been stepping up their game as well in terms of more inclusive advertising for their products. Covergirl, Estée Lauder, L’Oreal, and Marc Jacobs all welcomed diverse celebrities such as Ayesha Curry, Issa Rae, Maye Musk, Shelina Moreda, Fei Fei Sun, Aja Naomi King, and Adwoa Aboah to promote their brands.

Because of the strides that the beauty community has made in recent years, Tarte’s shade selection for their most recent foundation is even more unacceptable. To be competitive with other high-end brands, Tarte needs to release makeup that everyone, regardless of skin tone, can wear. Elle brings up the fact that in the future, minorities in the United States are predicted to grow to become the majority. If brands work to be the favorite brand for women of color, they will continue to have loyal customers in the future. Furthermore, brands that try to show their inclusivity and openness seem more attractive to many customers. Many consumers do not want to buy from makeup brands that aren’t inclusive, whether or not they are directly affected by it.

Even more than that, Tarte completely overlooked an entire group of people with their new release. Many people cannot even wear this makeup because there is no way to mix colors to get their correct shade. With all of the different issues with race still occurring all over the world today, one thing that women should not have to worry about is whether or not they will find their shade in the latest foundation that came out. People of color have been oppressed for hundreds of years, and within recent centuries we have made large advancements to try to reach equality, but we all still have so much more to do. We can’t grow complacent and believe the claim that there is no more racism in America. All of the police brutality in the last several years is just another sign that we still have to keep fighting for equality, and inclusivity in makeup is a large part of that. Many people feel empowered when they use makeup, and when wearing makeup is more of a struggle to find the right shade than a fun, empowering experience, women from different ethnicities will find it harder to be empowered through the use of makeup. Moreover, with the emergence of more diverse advertising from various beauty companies, young girls from diverse backgrounds will grow up to feel more confident if they are shown inclusive advertising.

Ultimately, beauty inclusivity has progressed so far within the last year that Tarte’s shade range for their new foundation is unacceptable. Beauty brands need to continue to work to make their brands inclusive to empower women of color.